


Ironstrange Valentine's Week, Day 1: Robot

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Ironstrange Valentine's Week [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Courtship, Developing Relationship, M/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29293644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: Trust Tony to make the simplest things adorable.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: Ironstrange Valentine's Week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151381
Comments: 28
Kudos: 101





	Ironstrange Valentine's Week, Day 1: Robot

**Author's Note:**

> @descaladumidera came up with the idea of an Ironstrange Valentine's Week. So... 7 tiny little ficlets coming up over the next 7 days!
> 
> Day 1: Robot

Stephen stared at the little disc in front of him and didn't know if he was supposed to be amused or annoyed. He settled for some mixture of both before he reached out to carefully poke the silver thing with the tip of his finger.

A short beep.

That was... unexpected. 

"Hello?" Stephen tried. The disc was from Tony, no doubt about it. Shiny tech like that just didn't appear in the Sanctum and Tony's tech tended to respond to words. Tony must have forgotten it after his last visit a couple of days ago and Stephen had been too busy to see it before now.

Another beep and Stephen couldn't resist any longer: "Sorry, BB-8, I don't speak squeaky electronics." He also doubted that Google translate could help him there.

Another, somehow sad sounding, squeak.

"Yes," he said, "I'm sorry too." He poked the disc again and this time the squeak was happy.

Stephen had to smile. Just a plain and simple silver disc with no discernable function, no buttons, no LEDs, no writing, nothing. He couldn't even see the speaker from which the squeaks came.

Trust Tony to make the simplest things adorable. The Cloak, curious as always, poked it as well but didn't get a reaction. It flew away, affronted, and Stephen let it go. It would be back, he knew, and he would talk with Tony about it. 

"Who are you?" Stephen asked idly, his poking becoming gentle strokes. The cool metal felt good and he enjoyed what little sensation he could get these days.

"A prototype I forgot here, actually," Tony said. If Stephen hadn't been warned by the Sanctum he would have jumped in surprise but so he just turned around with a smile. "Hey, little one." Tony greeted his creation affectionately, giving it a short pat, barely missing Stephen's fingers in the process. This time the beeping was longer and more intense but still clearly happy.

"Sorry," he offered in Stephen's direction. "I wanted to get it sooner but you said that you're not home and..."

"It's okay. It's adorable, although I have to confess that I have no idea what it does."

Tony shrugged. "Nothing, really. It's meant to be a companion but this is the prototype to test a few subroutines in a plain housing."

"So basically you're going to make your own Alexa," Stephen stated and laughed at Tony's disgusted grimace at that.

"No!" he protested. "This one here isn't a harbinger of the surveillance state! I have FRIDAY and that's more than enough," he added after a moment with a short shake of his head. "No," he repeated with a fond look at the disc. "This is going to be a companion for people who can't have pets. Be it allergies or their living arrangements."

"BB-8," Stephen smiled.

"Not that intelligent and not that sophisticated. Maybe a cat. But not a particularly intelligent one. I don't want to steal business from pet shelters, after all."

"Can you make it respond to the Cloak?" The thought of the two of them together was amusing, if not outright hysterical.

Tony thought about that for a moment. "Good idea, actually. It needs to be able to interact with non-human life, too. Like actual pets. Or whatever your companion is, actually." He looked around. "Where's your cape?"

Stephen laughed. "Sulking somewhere. Because it didn't get a reaction. You have to make it up to it, you know."

Tony actually looked crestfallen at that. Tony Stark. Iron Man. Superhero and multi-billionaire businessman with a heart of gold. Stephen had struggled for a long time but in the end there had been no choice but to first like and then fall in love with Tony.

"I'll do that," he promised after a moment. "Apart from it not responding to your live-in outerwear - what do you think?"

"It's cute," Stephen allowed. "Just like it is." He petted the shell once again. "I still think BB-8 fits. It's all the squeaking and beeping."

In answer, BB-8 squeaked happily, making both men laugh out loud.

"Yeah, it is," Tony said absently, not even looking at the disc but at Stephen, taking in the genuine smile on his face. After a moment he gave in to temptation and put his hand on the prototype as well, 'accidentally' touching Stephen's slightly shaking fingers. "It's yours now. Have fun you two." He could always build another one but this one belonged with Stephen. It had never sounded this happy when Tony had been tinkering with it.

After a moment Stephen looked up, a slight blush on his face, and - to Tony's great pleasure and surprise - didn't even try to protest against the gift.

_So the wizard likes cute things. I can do tha_ t, Tony thought and grinned back, gently stroking Stephen's fingers instead of the shell. For a moment he was tempted to offer a custom paint job but decided against it. Sometimes he knew when he shouldn't push and this was one of those rare times.

"Here, I'll tell you what it - BB-8 - can do. It's not much but it's equipped with some basic learning routines. This one can't move around and respond apart from beeping but you can get different sounds out of it." He looked up. "Don't worry, it's not networked. Promise. It's safe. I would never have brought it here otherwise. FRIDAY is the only one who gets in here."

And she had Stephen's explicit permission, after all. Had his doubts been that transparent?

Stephen didn't pull away and even moved his hand a little bit, the last of his lingering worries laid to rest. Tony responded by covering it with his own and they smiled at each other while BB-8 squeaked happily at both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> BB-8 will return in Ironstrange Valentine's Week, Day 2: Cooking
> 
> Thanks for reading! 🤍


End file.
